Page 29 of Fragile Love (Fragile 3)
She looked at him, confused. “Huh?”
“So we can find a secret place to park and I’ll show you how much I missed you.”
Lillian squealed. “Someone is feeling super horny today!”
“It all started with a woman who dropped her towel to seduce me.” Cayden shook his head in mock disappointment. “I succumbed.”
“You did what?”
“I—” he started to say again, but realized her lame joke. “You almost got me.”
She stuck her tongue out at him. “So, what’s on the agenda for this week in sunny Los Angeles?”
He groaned. “I don’t want to think about it.”
“Why not? I thought you’d be happy to get back to work.”
“It’s just...” He trailed off and didn’t finish.
Here comes the distance again, she thought, and put her hand on his. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.”
“No, it’s nothing. Janine just blabbed to all her friends that I found her a replacement trainer, and now all the other clients who were referred to me by Janine want me to find new trainers for them.”
“That’s not too many people, right?”
“Word spreads fast, and now some of Janine’s friends who aren’t even my clients want me to interview trainers and hire the best one.”
Lillian grimaced. “Ouch. How many people does that make?”
“Around fifteen, I think. I don’t know. I’ve lost count. I’m just kind of handling it as it comes.”
“Fifteen?” she exclaimed, her voice echoing through the car. “Cayden, that’s a lot of work for you to do in such a short amount of time.”
“I can’t get it all done this week. I maybe could do two this week. Maybe. And that’s only if I’m lucky. But the pay... it’s freakin’ amazing, so I can’t say no.”
Lillian thought about how long it would take for him to handle the rest of the clients and do all the hiring. “Do you think it will take months until you’re able to move back here?”
He shook his head.
“No way. Two or three weeks max is what I’m estimating in my head. I mean it, too, Lil. While I’m interviewing all these guys to be their trainers, I’m making notes on who would go well with which clients. I guess it’s like killing several birds with one stone.”
That makes sense. “Janine must know a lot of people,” she said.
“It’s not just Janine. I have a...” He chewed his lip and stared out the window. “Well, there are a couple of others, too. Katharina’s people, or her people’s people. I don’t even know what it will take to settle them.”
Seeing the stress on his face was slowly grinding away at her mood. She moved her hand to his head and scratched it lightly with her fingernails. “Don’t worry about it,” she told him, keeping her voice as soft as possible. “It will be over soon, and I’ll be here to help however you need me.”
He squeezed her leg affectionately. “Thanks, Lil. I need you to keep going with Andrew and your clients here. And keep your weekends free so we can have enough time together.”
“Of course. I told you we would have plenty of time together.”
“Never enough in my book.” He pulled a bottle of water out of Lillian’s purse and took a long drink. “I will admit, though, that we’ve had more time with each other than I thought we would with Andrew around.”
She nodded. “He sleeps a lot now, but he won’t be able to keep that up for very long. His appointments start this week and—” She sighed. “I can hear him complaining about the exercises already. He hates being kept still, but he thinks physical therapy is overrated.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. It’s really frustrating, hearing him say that.”
